𝕻𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖚𝖑𝖚𝖒 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲]

𝐱𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐢. 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 — ashes to ashes

━━━━━━━

 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐃 thought that things might end this way.

 From the moment he and Emilia had completed the impossible and built their very own time machine, he knew that something would go wrong. The feeling you'd get in the very depths of your stomach when you were called upon by your doctor, ready to hear the news you'd been waiting months for. The feeling when you'd approach the drop of a rollercoaster that you'd severely underestimated, or perhaps the feeling when you didn't know if a car was going to stop in time, headlights blurring your vision... the same feeling that would ignite a spark so volatile you thought you might vomit.

 It'd been lingering within the pits of his belly the entire time.

 It had only grown worse when he'd watched as Stephen Strange swallowed and looked away from him, unable to meet his gaze at all. When Tony had asked if they were on course to win... Stephen had paused.

 Now, Tony might not have known Stephen himself for all that long, but even he knew the Doctor wasn't a man to hesitate, nor to steer his eyes away from a man who irritated him endlessly.

 So yeah, Tony had thought that perhaps he wouldn't make it out alive... but he'd make what little time he had left count. So when Thanos had been towering over him, Stone's glistening upon the gauntlet... Tony knew what he had to do, and he had no reservations about it.

 He knew there wouldn't be a chance in hell to take back the gauntlet itself; they'd tried that five years ago, and look where it had gotten them. So with greedy little fingers, a little slip of the hand, he'd swiped up the stones and let them sink into his suit.

 It burned. It felt as though somebody had swapped his blood for gasoline and struck a match against his flesh. The metal surrounding his limbs did little to banish the sensation... actually, Tony doubted it was doing anything at all.

 He could feel the power of the stones running up the length of his arm, the swell of pain that came with every pulse of his heart. But the look on Thanos' ugly face was worth every ounce of suffering he was facing... even if the worst was still yet to come.

 He'd planned for this, left behind a recording tucked away within his suit... he couldn't leave his little girl without a goodbye, could he? He couldn't leave Pepper Potts behind once more without a heartfelt apology. Rhodey and Happy, he thanked them for everything they'd ever done, for staying by his side even when he really hadn't been worth the hassle.

 He left a little something for Peter, the boy who'd been his motivation to bring everybody home — as long as Peter was alive, the world wouldn't need Tony Stark anymore, that was something Tony firmly believed.